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The Galapagos Islands consist of many different islands. The Pinta island is home to the last surviving Pinta giant tortoise named "Lonesome George." One of the reasons all of the other Pinta giant tortoises died off was because the Pinta island was a common stop for many pirates and buccaneers. Traveling for so long with so little food was very hard for the pirates and buccaneers to survive. They stocked their ships with the tortoises as a main source of food. Another reason that the Pinta tortoises died off was because the goat population greatly increased on the island once people came to live there. Goats were so abundant in such a short amount of time that they began devouring many types of plants that the Pinta giant tortoises relied on for food. Once scientists found out about George they tried very hard to mate him with other giant tortoises from other islands in the Galapagos. Eggs were eventually laid, but unfortunately were never fertilized. George still remains the last of his subspecies. He is believed to be somewhere between the ages of 60-90.

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10y ago

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